The Trump administration on Thursday decided not to immediately revoke Harvard University’s authorization to enroll foreign students. Instead, it will allow the university 30 days to challenge the move through an administrative review process.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a notice of intent on Wednesday to withdraw the school’s certification under a federal program to enroll non-U.S. students.
The Justice Department filed the notice in court ahead of a hearing before U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston over whether to extend a temporary order blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from revoking the Ivy League school’s right to host foreign students.
Harvard had argued that the revocation violated its free speech and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution. In addition, Harvard contended that the revocation failed to comply with DHS regulations. The regulations required providing at least 30 days to challenge the agency’s allegations and giving Harvard an opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal.
Harvard Denies Accusations
Harvard has said losing that right would affect about one quarter of its student body and devastate the school. It has denied Trump administration charges of alleged bias against conservatives, fostering antisemitism on campus and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.
The Homeland Security Department said it sent Harvard the notice after school officials indicated an intent to comply with requirements of the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows Harvard to enroll non-U.S. students.
“We continue to reject Harvard’s repeated pattern of endangering its students and spreading American hate—it must change its ways to be eligible to receive generous benefits from the American people,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The revocation announced on May 22 was an escalation of the Trump administration’s attack on Harvard.
‘Attack On Academic Freedom’
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university’s lawyers argued the agency’s action was part of an “unprecedented and retaliatory attack on academic freedom at Harvard,” which is pursuing a separate lawsuit challenging the administration’s decision to terminate nearly $3 billion in federal research funding.
Harvard argues the Trump administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to its demands to control the school’s governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students.
The case before Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, was filed after Noem revoked the school’s certification to enroll non-U.S. students.
In announcing the decision, Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
In a letter that day, she accused the school of refusing to comply with wide-ranging requests for information on its student visa holders, including about any activity they engaged in that was illegal or violent or that would subject them to discipline.
Harvard said the decision was devastating for the school and its student body. The university, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest, enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, about 27% of its total enrollment.
The department’s move would prevent Harvard from enrolling new foreign students and require existing ones to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Harvard University should have a 15% cap on the number of non-U.S. students it admits.
(With inputs from Reuters)
